Kylix 3: Borland's Linux Delphi and C++ RAD is a Winner

Test Drives Are Available

September 9, 2002

By
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

There are many kinds of programmers. There are those for whom, vi, gcc, and
make are all the programming tools that they'll ever need. And, that's fine, for
them. Then, there are programmers who like rapid application development
(RAD) packages with GUIs and integrated debuggers. If you're that kind of
developer, then Kylix 3 (http://www.borland.com/kylix/index.html) is your
kind of development environment.

If EMACS is your idea of a programming environment, Kylix will come as a
shock. Many developers, weaned on Borland programming tools since
Kylix's ancient ancestor 1983's Turbo Pascal on CP/M, will find that Kylix
brings all the usual visual and rapid application development goodies they
expect. Developers who cut their teeth on Windows programming
environments like Microsoft's Visual Studio and has been hesitant about
jumping into Linux because of its lack of similar tools no longer have any
excuses.

While Kylix on Linux has been around since March 2001, it hasn't been the
most popular development environment simply because it only supported the
Delphi language. While Delphi, essentially Pascal revamped and updated
with objects, is very popular with Windows programmers, it's never been that
popular on Linux. This is simply because Linux, and the Unix family before it,
has always been the haven of C and C++ programmers.

Now, however, Kylix answers the needs of most Linux programmers by fully
supporting C++ with the same development environment. The result is a RAD
that should quickly become Linux's most popular integrated development
environment (IDE).

Strong words, but it's a strong RAD. While those who are wedded to the
command line won't be persuaded, most other developers will see Kylix's
advantages. You don't have to believe me, or even pay out money, to see if
you agree. Borland has made one version of the program, Open Kylix,
available for free downloads
(http://www.borland.com/products/downloads/download_kylix.html).

The most important difference between Open Kylix and the Professional
Edition, which lists for $249, is that with Open Kylix you must link to GPL
libraries, thus producing GPL only code. The other important differences are
that Open has fewer debugging options and database integration options
than Professional. If you like what you see, and you plan on doing serious
database, XML, or Web Services work, you should skip over Professional and
go directly to Kylix 3 Enterprise Edition with a price-tag of $1,999. Still, Open
will give you more than enough to know if Kylix is for you.